Computer networks are an important part of modern computing environments. Computer networks can allow connected computer systems to communicate with each other, share information with each other, and access online services. Packet-switched computer networks move information by dividing data into a collection of separate data packets or data blocks. Individual packets of information are transmitted across a network by hubs, switches and routers to a final destination entity. In some examples, individually addressed data packets are transmitted between a pair of computer systems using a datagram protocol such as the User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”). Using a datagram protocol, when an individual data packet is transmitted to a recipient, the recipient may or may not confirm the receipt of the individual data packet. In other examples, computer systems can use a connection-oriented protocol such as the Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”) to establish a logical connection over a physical computer network. Using the logical connection, a sequence of packets can be reliably transmitted, in order, between the pair of computer systems.
In networked environments such as those described above, after application data has been split into packets and placed on a computer network, it can be difficult to identify credentials that are associated with individual packets. In many situations, a recipient combines many individual packets and interprets them in accordance with one or more higher-level network protocols to identify a characteristic that is associated with the individual packets. For example, credentials that are transmitted from a client to a service at the application level can be split and transmitted over a computer network using multiple data packets. When the data packets arrive at the service, the data packets are recombined so that the credential can be accessed and authenticated.